The present invention is directed to a female creator image which may be used as a toy, or as an educational or therapeutic device. Numerous images of goddesses or female deities have been created and unearthed over the years; and myths or anthropological explanation attached thereto. A sampling of the images may be found in The Great Cosmic Mother, by Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor, and The Once And Future Goddess, by Elinor W. Gadon. Some of the goddesses mentioned are female creator deities, such as Inanna, creatress of the grains and all that grows from the earth (Gadon, page 115). The creatress Nana Baluku of Eastern Europe is mentioned in The Grandmother of Time, by Z. Budapest, and the creation of the sun, moon, planets and earth by Kali in The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara G. Walker, while Merlin Stone in When God Was A Woman tells the story of Nammu (a Sumerian creatress) who gave birth to the heavens and earth. In addition, The Clan of the Cave Bear and subsequent books by Auel are said to include a character "The Mother of All".
A review of the patent art revealed only U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,551,560, 4,197,670, 4,237,649 and 4,836,821. U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,560, to Graves, shows an educational device for teaching midwifery comprising a mother figure having an abdominal cavity with a front opening over which different abdominal shapes indicating different stages of gestation may be placed. The cavity is made to receive a fetus doll, and at its lower end is provided with a flexible membrane with opening to permit passage of the fetus doll. The human-like female form of the creatress image of the present invention has an expanding or exaggerated form, no front abdominal opening, no interchangeable closures for such an opening, and represents not a simulation of human birth but an impression of a creation, especially of nonhuman elements of the creation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,670 discloses an educational toy simulating a mother and child. The toy is a stuffed doll having an abdominal cavity with fabric door at the front of the abdomen, and a baby doll removably carried within the cavity. The human-like female form of the present invention while anatomically closer to a human female form (in having an abdominal cavity with opening between the legs), it is associated with the "birth" of nonhuman elements of creation, not just a human baby doll.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,237,649 and 4,836,821 disclose apparatus for simulating a natural birthing process comprising conveyor belt and piston, respectfully. In either case, the apparatus is meant to simulate birth by the mother to an offspring of like species, not a creation.
The invention of the present application relates to the world of symbol and imagery, and hence, to play, learning and therapy. Toys serve as an objects of identification and impersonation, supposedly the basis of play. Images also serve as the "cues" in learning theory, central to Behavioral Therapy. One therapeutic use of toys or images is as the object onto which ideas and feelings may be expressed in therapeutic role play. Art Therapy focuses on the feelings expressed in the images created, and in one aspect of the present invention the user forms the elements of creation, completing the creation image.
The meanings and uses of symbols and images have long been noted in psychoanalytical theory, especially in the work on archetypes of Jung and his successors. While symbols and images generally are said to stimulate thought and influence action, archetypal images are said to operate in the unconscious, generating thoughts and actions beyond the rational mind. In a similar vein, the uses of iconograghy to create group identity, and stimulate personal transformation, have long been known. Though not intended as iconography, it is hoped the images of the present invention relate to archetypes.
Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following specification when in conjunction with the annexed drawings.